Arthur Rackham ~ Snickerty Nick and the Giant ~ 1919

Wow. Here's another Arthur Rackham illustrated book I'd never seen before, until I stumbled into it a few days ago. The illustration, Dance of Spring, is gorgeous, with both grace in the figures and unexpected cartoonish humor in the flying insect-like winged creature in the upper right hand corner wearing a caricature of Rackham's face, along with the Arthur Rackham "self portraits" repeating in the border framing the painting, as printed in the book, Snickerty Nick and the Giant  by Julia Ellsworth Ford.

Snickerty Nick is a play for children with a giant named Baron Bill-Arron Bomberrum, a dwarf named Snickerty Nick, The Little Boy, The Children, Winter's Gnomes, and Spring's Faeries, published in 1919 by Moffat, Yard & Company.

Quoting the author from the foreward:

"To Arthur Rackham I tender my most sincere thanks whose magic touch as in Peter Pan, Grimm's Faery Tales, and Undine, making real all faeries and gnomes, endears all child life to grown-ups as well as to children." ~ Julia Ellsworth Ford

Arthur Rackham ~ 1919

Snickerty Nick and the Giant

Dance of Spring

Arthur Rackham ~ 1919

Snickerty Nick and the Giant

Dance of Winter and Gnomes

Arthur Rackham ~ 1919

Snickerty Nick and the Giant

The Little Boy

I can't say I like all of the characters in this little play, as depicted by Rackham. Snickerty and the Giant, based it seems on an aspect of Rackham's own visage, do not appeal to me, but I enjoy the children, and the woman who is Spring. Rackham himself also appears as The Sandman.

Like Rackham's illustration of the mermaids in my earlier post featuring his work for the book, Imagina, I get the sense Rackham probably had a lot of fun creating these images, perhaps relaxing his exacting standards to capture a purely playful quality. There must be satirical or ironic significance to the illustration of the great Cornish ogre. All of the illustrations capture great expression, characterization and movement.

Dance of Spring  is my favorite, and the woman in Spring reminds me a bit of the bewitchery the viewer experiences, as in viewing Rackham's characterizations of Undine, though Spring is more mature and the two women look nothing alike. I'll be featuring and discussing my favorite illustrations from Undine in a future post.

Click each image for great detail.

Arthur Rackham ~ Imagina ~ Mermaids & Faerie Folk ~ 1914

Have you ever seen these illustrations? Both are from Julia Ellsworth Ford's Imagina, a story for children incorporating three poems, with two beautiful color illustrations by Arthur Rackham, and many line drawings executed by Julia's daughter, Lauren Ford.

Imagina was published in 1914 by Duffield and Company (New York). Earlier this evening is the first time I've ever seen these images. Click on the title link to see all of the illustrations in their original context.

Click the images posted here to view them in great detail.

Coming Soon: More Surprising Images from Arthur Rackham.

Arthur Rackham ~ 1914

Imagina by Julia Ellsworth Ford

New York: Duffield & Company

"Please, Mermaid, come out where it is sunny."

Arthur Rackham ~ 1914

Imagina by Julia Ellsworth Ford

New York: Duffield & Company

Frontispiece ~ Faerie Folk

I almost, almost think I've seen the bottom image before, but there is so much majesty in the tree and the confidence in the fairy who must be queen, I'm sure it's evoking other wonderful Rackham images. I love the moon in the background, and the subtlety of the color in the nightime scene.

The quality of sunlight filtering through the water, the shimmer of the mermaid's hair, and Rackham's ability to portray their strength and bouyancy, their individuality, and their pure joy as they swim, unstung and free with the jellyfish, makes this one of my favorite Rackham mermaid paintings.

I also enjoy it because it seems he must have had a lot of fun painting it, employing his expert skills with watercolor, while accepting any imperfections as lending to the freedom of the composition, which I find to be perfectly balanced in shape, color, tone, and movement.

Welcome, new and old followers. Please leave your comments.

Note: I've discovered why these images are familiar/not familiar to me. My friend, Thom, at The Pictorial Arts, posted them last June in a post titled Delicious. I even commented on them, so you know that I both love them, and I stayed up entirely too late last night. It is very difficult for me to find an image Thom does not know about. Visit The Pictorial Arts for an amazing archive of golden age illustration and comic book art, with lively dialogue in the comments from artists, illustrators and fans.

Arthur Rackham's Fairies, Trees, and Peter Pan

No one can portray the fairy world better than Arthur Rackham. Imitators since who acknowledge his influence and have copied or adapted his style, have continued the traditions he established with success, but they owe the composition, the color tones, and the ethereal quality of figures and faces, and the animation of nature and objects to him.

Arthur Rackham ~ The Fairies of the Serpentine ~ 1906

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J. M. Barrie

Arthur Rackham ~ The Little People Weave Their Summer Curtains ~ 1906

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J. M. Barrie

 

Arthur Rackham ~ Peter Pan is the Fairies' Orchestra ~ 1906

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J. M. Barrie

Arthur Rackham ~ There is Almost Nothing That has Such a Keen Sense of Fun ~ 1906

Illustration for Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J. M. Barrie

Arthur Rackham ~ 1906

Fairies never say, 'We feel happy': what they say is, 'We feel dancey'

Illustration for Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J. M. Barrie

Arthur Rackham ~ 1906

Queen Mab, Who Rules in the Gardens

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J. M. Barrie

Arthur Rackham ~  They Will Certainly Mischief You ~ 1906

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J. M. Barrie

Arthur Rackham ~ There Now Arose a Mighty Storm ~ 1906

Illustration for Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J. M. Barrie

Arthur Rackham ~ When They Think You Are Not Looking ~ 1906

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J. M. Barrie

At my tumblr blog, The Art of Narrative, I recently posted 15 of the 50 images Arthur Rackham created for Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J. M. Barrie, first published by Hodder and Stoughton in 1906. I worked with the high resolution images to crop the borders and enhance the color. If you love Arthur Rackham, it is definitely worth a look to see Arthur Rackham's animated trees.

Click into the large resolution images for great detail.



Click HERE to see images from Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens at The Art of Narrative.

Click HERE to see all 50 images from the Harvard University Library.

Click HERE to see all of the Arthur Rackham images at The Art of Narrative.


Thank you to Uncertain Times and BibliOdyssey, for leading me to the source of these images!